Can the attention training technique turn one marshmallow into two? Improving children's ability to delay gratification.
Behav Res Ther
; 77: 34-9, 2016 Feb.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26708331
ABSTRACT
The seminal Marshmallow Test (Mischel & Ebbesen, 1970) has reliably demonstrated that children who can delay gratification are more likely to be emotionally stable and successful later in life. However, this is not good news for those children who can't delay. Therefore, this study aimed to explore whether a metacognitive therapy technique, Attention Training (ATT Wells, 1990) can improve young children's ability to delay gratification. One hundred children participated. Classes of 5-6 year olds were randomly allocated to either the ATT or a no-intervention condition and were tested pre and post-intervention on ability to delay gratification, verbal inhibition (executive control), and measures of mood. The ATT intervention significantly increased (2.64 times) delay of gratification compared to the no-intervention condition. After controlling for age and months in school, the ATT intervention and verbal inhibition task performance were significant independent predictors of delay of gratification. These results provide evidence that ATT can improve children's self-regulatory abilities with the implication that this might reduce psychological vulnerability later in life. The findings highlight the potential contribution that the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model could make to designing techniques to enhance children's self-regulatory processes.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Atención
/
Enseñanza
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Descuento por Demora
/
Metacognición
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
/
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Child
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Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Behav Res Ther
Año:
2016
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Reino Unido